Babel on Babylon

ENL Proficiency Level | ENL Program | Standards | Technology

Emerging, Expanding   |   Stand-Alone, Integrated ENL/ELA, Integrated ENL/Math, Integrated ENL/Science   |  ELA 5W3, ELA  5W3b   |   Canva

Content

I can create and articulate a story that is descriptive and organized. 

Procedure

Steps in the Learning Experience:

• Introduction: Students explored the art of storytelling by analyzing professional podcasts, discussing narrative structure, and brainstorming their own experiences to share.

• Planning: Using graphic organizers and scaffolded writing prompts, students drafted their narratives while receiving peer and teacher feedback.

• Recording & Editing: Students used a voice recorder to capture their stories, practicing pacing, tone, and clarity. They then refined their recordings through self-review and peer suggestions.

• Story Enhancement: Students chose a graphic that goes with their story in Canva to visually complement their narratives, incorporating images, text, and design elements to enhance audience engagement.

• Final Presentation & Reflection: Students shared their completed podcast episodes with peers and reflected on their storytelling process and learning experience.

Student engagement was fostered through choice and ownership, as students selected their topics, making the project personally meaningful. Collaboration and peer feedback played a crucial role, with students participating in workshops to refine their stories and improve their speaking skills. Additionally, multimodal expression was encouraged through the combination of audio storytelling and visual elements in Canva, allowing students to creatively convey their narratives in diverse ways.

Technology played a key role in the Babel on Babylon podcast project. A voice recorder was used to capture and refine student narratives, ensuring clarity and expressive delivery. Canva allowed students to create engaging visual story paths that complemented their spoken words. Additionally, some students may have utilized audio editing tools to enhance sound quality and overall presentation.

To support all learners, scaffolding strategies such as sentence frames, guided outlines, and modeled storytelling examples helped students structure their narratives. Differentiation was implemented based on language proficiency levels: beginner students benefited from word banks, audio supports, and teacher-led small group discussions, while intermediate students engaged in structured peer discussions and used scaffolded sentence stems to develop more complex ideas.

The Babel on Babylon podcast project engaged students in all language domains. Through listening, they analyzed professional podcasts and peer recordings to identify effective storytelling techniques. Speaking was emphasized as students practiced fluency, pronunciation, and expressive delivery in their recorded narratives. Reading played a role in reviewing peer scripts and mentor texts to refine their storytelling skills, while writing was developed through drafting, revising, and receiving structured feedback on their narrative scripts. This student-led podcast project fostered authentic communication skills, creativity, and digital literacy while ensuring engagement through personal connection and choice-driven storytelling.